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About My Family Plays Music (15th Anniversary Edition)

A young girl tries out different genres and instruments in this exuberant celebration of music, winner of the Coretta Scott King New Talent Award–now available in a special anniversary edition.

This is my family. We all love music, begins a young percussionist. When she plays with her father, a cellist, she taps the triangle. With her sister’s marching band, she crashes cymbals together. At her aunt’s jazz show, she taps a woodblock.

Elbrite Brown’s lively cut-paper illustrations, for which he was awarded the Coretta Scott King New Talent Award, depict this diverse, joyous family dancing, strumming, drumming and fiddling their way through a tour of major musical styles–everything from classical string quartets, to rock and roll, to the youngest niece banging on pots and pans. They love music–and most of all, they love to celebrate and play it together.

Includes a glossary covering types of music and instruments mentioned.

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Praise

“More a celebration of sound than a story, this upbeat picture book explores 10 different types of music. The young African-American narrator introduces each member of her extended family and the style of music he or she plays, from blue grass to marching band to rock ‘n’ roll to church hymns…. A glossary defining all the musical terms and genres appears on the last page. The cut-paper illustrations are vibrant and filled with energy.” —School Library Journal

“Brown depicts this exuberant percussionist with cornrows and a big grin, confidently accompanying big band and string quartet, dancing on club stages, and joining marching bands, plainly welcome wherever she goes. . . it’s the pride this child takes in her family, and her place in that family, that readers will remember most clearly.”—Kirkus Reviews

“This [is a] charmer about a family of music makers. The young female narrator starts off describing a page of pictures of her family. “We all love music,” she says, and the images include those of instruments as well as of musicians…. The paper-cut illustrations vibrate with color and–almost–with sound. The multiracial family with its rainbow of skin tones is not only a lovely multicultural statement but also a vivid reflection of contemporary families and musical tastes.” —Booklist

“In the end, this book is about much more than different styles of music or teaching music to children. It is a book for children about family unity and togetherness, valuing diversity, and celebrating life.” —Beautiful Books For Children